Do you have trouble keeping up with the rhythm, so to speak? Then perhaps what you have is what experts now call as beat deafness.
Beat deafness refers to a condition wherein the individual is having a hard time matching the rhythm or the beat that he or she hears. However, it doesn't really refer to the general lack of rhythm but rather to the inability of a person's stimulus to convert what it hears into a physical action such as clapping or tapping.
In a study conducted by researchers of University of Montreal and McGill University led by Caroline Palmer, she worked with two beat-deaf people named Marjorie and Mathieu, as well as 32 individuals who then served as the control group and represented the general population. Their task was to mimic the beat produced by the metronome using a keyboard.
As the beat of the metronome changed from fast to slow and vice versa, the beat-deaf pair struggled keeping up with the pace or matching the sound that they hear, a problem that didn't exist in the control group as they can easily adapt or adjust their tapping.
While this may sound as if anyone who doesn't know how follow a dance step may be considered as beat deaf, Palmer expressed that this condition is actually very rare. In fact, while looking for people to become participants, only two out of the many inquiries and interested individuals displayed the disorder.
Moreover, just because a person seems to be beat deaf doesn't have to mean he or she doesn't know how to create beats. Back to the experiment, Mathieu and Marjorie could actually tap a consistent rhythm with the absence of sound.
The results of the study further suggest beat deafness is not really the lack of body coordination or a hearing problem. Rather, it's more of a reflection of the body's internal rhythm-that is, their oscillating functions are abnormal.
